Transportation chair



Nov. 29, 1938. B. H. DRAKE I TRANSPORTATION CHAIR Filed April 9, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet l ATTORNEY TRANSPORTATION CHAIR Filed April 9, 1937 .2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig.4

INVENTOR BJEZDraZce By G u A" ITORNEY Patented Nov. 29, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TRANSPORTATION CHAIR Benjamin H. Drake, Stockton, Calif.

Application April 9, 1937, Serial No. 135,966

3 Claims. (01. 155-116) This invention relates generally to a selectively Each of these rollers rides on a rail 6 on the botreclining chair and in particular is directed to tom of seat frame 3, a bent over finger 1, formed the structure of a chair designed for transportawith the roller bracket, extending over the top of tion use such as in modern trains, busses or airthe rail in order to prevent separation of the craft. roller and rail and to thus maintain the seat 5 The principal object of my present invention is frame in place. to provide a transportation chair which when Rollers 8 are fixed on and extend downward moved to a reclining position will afford comfort from the seat frame 3 adjacent the back corners to the occupant and yet will not cause annoythereof; said rollers riding in tracks 9 secured n ance or crowding of the occupant of the chair beto the inner faces of the sides of the main frame n hind as now often occurs with other chairs whose I. These tracks are formed with a curved dip inback portions deflect rearward materially when termediate their ends for the purpose hereafter the chair is reclined. described. A horizontal transverse shaft I0 is Another object of my invention is to provide a iournaled between the sides of the main frame I transportation chair which, when moved from an below the seat frame, the shaft having fixed ral5 upright to a semi-reclining position, will provide dial arms I! projecting up therefrom alo greater comfort due to the even distribution of side the seat frame on both sides and at a slight the occupants weight from the shoulders to the normal rearward slope. Substantially horizontal knees with no tendency for the occupant to slide links 12 re pivoted at their real ends 0 the P- out of the chair. per ends of arms II, and at their forward ends 20 A further object of the invention is to produce to the sides of the seat frame as at I3. a simple and inexpensive device and yet one Connecting arms M are fixed y Secured t0 the which will be exceedingly effective for the pursides of the seat frame adjacent the rear ends pose for' which it is designed. thereof and extend rearward to pivotal connec- 5 These objects I accomplish by means f h tion as at [5 with the sides of the seat back l6 at structure and relative arrangement of parts as its lower nd- Parallel and rearwardly sloping will fully appear by a perusal of the following channels or tracks H are mounted on the main specification and claims. frame and project upward along the sides of the In the drawings similar characters of reference seat a Rellers are Sec d 60* t e s des indicate corresponding parts in the several views: of the s a back intermediate the d e e 30 Figure 1 is a side elevation illustrating my imd 1"ide in the tracks A m rests are D proved chair in upright position; the fully re- Oiled O the sides of a d project forward o clined position being shown in dotted lines. t e t k. the f w d ds f t a m rests Figure 2 is an enlarged sectional elevation of being ppo y links 29 p v a the pp the chair in upright position ith only th near end to the arm rests and at the lower end to the 3.. side frame member and track removed; the semi- Seat a A Shield 2| extends from the transreclining position being shown in dotted lines. Verse reek Shaft the to edge of the Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary ti seat back. The shield is hinged on the shaft and taken on line 3 3 of Fig, 2, its upper end is guided in channels 2| a attached Figure 4 is a fragmentary front end i of one to the back I6 at the sides. This does not inter- 40 of the forward seat supportin r ll fere with the action of the chair and seals the Figure 5 is an elevation illustrating the paronly Space Where feet might get p n ed, While ticular control lever for use on the aisle side of viding all possible foot room under th h ir the chair, from behind.

Figure 6 is an elevation of the control lever as A redial control level 22 is fixed 011 e e d o 45 constructed for use on the side of the chair adja- Shaft outwardly of the main frame d p cent a wall. jeots upward to a point alongside one arm rest.

Referring now more particularly to the charac- A at releasing p is mounted on he upper t f reference on th drawings my improved end of the lever and includes a metallic loop 23 5Q chair comprises a substantially rectangular main Ofiset outwardly of the Chair, and a pad 24 seframe I supported adjacent each corner by rigid cured thereon. A catch release member 25 for legs 2. A separate seat frame 3, having a seat engagement With the fingers is d posed Within cushion 4 thereon, is supported at its forward end the loop and with its depe Catch 1' paw P upon transversely spaced rollers 5 mounted on slidably mounted in a sleeve 26 which is preferthe front cross member of the main frame I. ably formed integral with lever 22 and loop 23. 55

The lower end of said depending catch is notched to engage in corresponding stepped notches 21 in the upper edge of a quadrant 28 secured to the main frame. A spring S normally holds the catch in a quadrant engaging position. The notches of the quadrant and the notched end of the catch are stepped in order to effect a positive engagement and yet cause the catch when fully seated to fit snugly in notches 21.

The releasing grip shown in Fig. 5 is designed for use on the aisle side of the chair while the grip shown in Fig. 6 has an oppositely offset grip -loop 23a and cooperating parts, this being designed for use on the side-of the chair adjacent a wall where the space between said wall and the chair is very limited.

Transversely spaced arms 29 are hinged at their forward ends to the main frame as at 30 and extend rearwardly beneath the seat frame, their inner ends being supported on compression springs 3| seated on a cross bar 32. Rollers 33 are mounted on the seat frame and ride on the upper face of the spring supported arms and which arms thus act or tend to return the seat frame to a horizontal position, thus making for easier operation.

In use, the chair may be shifted from an upright position to a semi-reclining or reclining position by the occupant who need only place his hand on the releasing grip, pull the catch release member up and then push the lever l I forward. This shifts the seat forward and reclines the back while at the same time lowering the seat at the rear whereby the occupant will not tend to slide forward on the seat as the chair reaches a semireclining position as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2. Such lowering of the rear portion of the seat is accomplished by the use of the track 9 curved intermediate its ends. Due to the particular configuration of the track, the seatafter lowering at the rear as the chair reaches a semi-reclining position-will rise again to a substantially horizontal position as the chair is fully reclined, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1. To return the chair to an upright position the procedure is merely reversed and the lever pulled backward,

springs 3| doing most of the lifting work.

By constructing the chair as heretofore described, a movement of the seat and seat back from a normal or upright position to a reclining position can be accomplished with a relatively small amount of rearward deflection of the seat back. This is extremely advantageous in that when one chair is in reclining position, the occupant of the next rearward chair is not crowded or otherwise annoyed. Also, but little physical effort is needed in both lowering or raising the chair.

mazes From the foregoing description it will be readily seen that I have produced such a device as substantially fulfills the objects of the invention as set forth herein.

While this specification set forth in detail the present and preferred construction of the device, still in practice such deviations from such detail may be resorted to as do not form a departure from the spirit of the invention, as defined by the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and useful and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a reclining chair, a main frame, a seat frame and means mounting the seat frame on the main frame for forward movement from a retracted position; said means including supporting tracks mounted on the main frame extending along the sides thereof from adjacent its rear end, said tracks being substantially horizontal at each end and being formed with a curved dip intermediate their ends, rollers on the seat frame adjacent its rear end and engaging the tracks, and rollers on the main frame adjacent its front end slidably supporting the seat frame.

2. In a reclining chair, a main frame, a seat frame and means mounting the seat frame on the main frame for forward movement from a retracted position; said means including a longitudinal track member mounted on the seat frame whose end portions are substantially alined and which is formed with a curved dip between said portions, an element on the seat frame adjacent its rear end engaging said track member, and means between the frames slidably supporting the seat frame at a fixed level at the front end of the main frame.

3. In a reclining chair, a main frame, a seat. frame and means mounting the seat frame on the.- main frame for forward movement from a retracted position; said means including means between the frames slidably supporting the seat frame at a fixed level at the front end of the main frame, a longitudinal track member mounted on one frame,'and extending forwardly from the rear end thereof, and an element on the other frame engaging said track member; the end portions of said member being substantially alined and said member being formed with a curvature in a vertical plane between said alined portions, the element engaging the member at such a point in its length when the seat frame is fully retracted, and the curvature of said member extending in such direction that the rear end of the seat frame will lower after a predetermined amount of advancing movement from a retracted position, and will then rise when fully advanced.

BENJAMIN H. DRAKE. 

